Hasht Behesht Palace Esfahan

... 8korun), a tak po "benzínové výplate" v&#353;ichni jezdí jako blázni a<br>pred výplatou je klid :-). Po výborném kafi (a to kafe nepiju) jsme se<br>odebrali do centra, kde jsme se setkali s lépe anglicky mluvícím kamarádem<br>Ali Rezou. Ten nám hned zacal vyprávet o historii mesta, pricem&#382; jsme se<br>pomalu pribli&#382;ovali k historickému jádru. Jako&#382;to studenti architektury<br>nám toho o místních budovách napovádali fakt hodne vcetne historických a<br>technických detailu ...

... to navigate our way through the tiny back alleys to Dibai House. Fortunately a small man with a big hunch in his back spotted us and quickly picked up that we were trying to locate the guest house. He waved us over and we proceeded to follow him down dusty golden alleys past dusty golden mud houses to a old door with no sign and this is how we arrived at the wonderful Dibai House. An attractive girl with dark hair and dark eyes ushered us inside and directed us into the picturesque ...

Again a posting from Fiona. <br><br>The group headed out on a walking tour, starting with the All Saviours or Vank Cathedral, an Armenian Church with magnificent paintings depicting the life of Christ. <br> <br><br>There were also many panels devoted to the Tortures of St Gregory, and what tortures they were! The poor man was shown being beaten, slashed, hung and strangely enough ...

... of the 18th century palace. The palace lacked the grandeur of the mosques, possibly because it has been largely destroyed over the years. The highlights are the Music room, where clever design allowed the vibrations of the music to travel through plaster cut outs to other rooms in the palace, and the roof terrace area with its cedar columns, frescoes of Persian women and spectacular views of the square. This is where the ...

Esfahan was by far one of the highlights of the trip and was the capital many years ago. It's absolutely beautiful and has a huge square with an enormous, gorgeous mosque on one end and a very atmospheric, equally enormous bazaar at the other. We spent a lot of time in the square just drinking tea on the outdoor benches of a teashop at one end of the square since it made for great people-watching. We ran into more tourists ...

Ce qu'il y a de bien, avec les grandes villes mythiques, c'est que généralement elles sont au niveau de leur légende. Esfahan n'a pas echappé à cette douteuse généralité et, dans la lignée de ces derniers jours, a consisté en un arrêt dont les douceurs sont parties pour rester ...

... cows do - don't think they moo, but you get the idea), chomping of dry grass, people swapping stories and travel tips, perhaps even battering and trading, the smell of food cooking and laughter and stories. No? Maybe it's just me that has a vivid imagination. Tea consumed. History imagined. It was off again on our merry travels on the paddy wagon with Mohammed do and se to the desert town of Na'in, Naen ...

... I slept little on the bus so I was able to see our arrival into Esfahan. The city is green and full of parks with a beautiful city skyline. Ancient bridges span across the great river. The particular thing about the river in Esfahan that differs from the other rivers throughout Iran is the fact that it actually contains water and is not a dried-up desert canyon. I hadn't realized this until I saw the water rushing east under the bus as we drove across the bride. I ...

... hard to the ground. It was very amusing to the Iranians once I got up and they saw that I wasn't hurt. I was glad I was able to make some people laugh at my expense. There is always a lot of atmosphere at the Square during the night time - unlike the day when it is quiet as a result of the scorching sun. Families were picnicking together and celebrating the end of today's fast. There are young guys everywhere playing soccer. It really is a festive atmosphere and it is like this ...

... to be mullahs (clerics) and dispatched to far-flung rural communities throughout Iran to propagate Islam. Hmm, "food" for "thought", eh? Next we stopped by a larger madraseh and sat down on a bench in the central courtyard. My friend spotted a bearded man in a robe napping in the green grass nearby and went to wake him up, apparently for the rare opportunity to practise his English with me. He's also from Afghanistan. He's completed 3 out of the 6 years of his ...